His main research areas are (1) Developmental Evolution, focusing on the role of gene regulatory networks in understanding phenotypic evolution and the origin of evolutionary innovations; (2) Theoretical Biology, focusing on the conceptual structure of 21st century biology; (3) the Theory of Complex Adaptive Systems, focusing on complexity as a unifying principle in the social and life sciences, including Biomedicine; (4) Computational History of Science, applying computational methods and big data approaches to the dynamics of knowledge systems; and (5) History of 20 and 21st century Life Sciences.

His undergraduate training was in zoology, philosophy and mathematics at the University of Vienna (Austria) and his graduate training was in biology at Yale and in History/History of Science at Princeton.